


"I'm glad you're not my patient anymore"

by Bad_boy_supreme_on_fire



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Bullies, I'm bad at tags, M/M, mention of violence, solangelo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-11
Updated: 2015-02-11
Packaged: 2018-03-11 21:50:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3334115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bad_boy_supreme_on_fire/pseuds/Bad_boy_supreme_on_fire
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>i rated it teens and up because of references to violence...</p>
    </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> i rated it teens and up because of references to violence...

Nico was curled up on the cold ground, shaking, just waiting for death to release him from the pain. He had covered his ears with his hands, so he did not hear the footsteps that approached behind him in the darkness. He could feel himself sobbing, and he knew that his salty tears were mixing with the blood pooling up next to him on the ground. He did not really care. He just wanted death to stop the pain. He hoped it would come soon, because he could not take much more of this.

Someone touched his arm. Nico screamed, and backed up as quickly as he could, still on the ground, as pain was stinging him with every move.

His back hit the wall of the building behind him, and he curled up with his hands in front of him, although he knew they would not provide him protection. Adrian and his friends were back for another round. The pain was already unbearable, and he knew he could not take more of it.

“P-please don’t…” he managed to whisper.

He was silently pleading to whoever was out there, whether it was a god or something else, to make it stop, to make them go away and leave him in the merciful hands of death. Nico did not even dare to look, because he did not want any hints of what was coming next. His eyes were pressed shut, and he was trembling from cold, pain, exhaustion and fear.

Nico waited for someone to grab his hair and pull him to his feet, he waited for sharp blades to cut across his face and bare chest, and he waited for bone-cracking punches and kicks.

Nothing.

Did he dare to look? Carefully, he turned his head to face his attackers, to see why they did not do anything. They were not there. Instead, there was one man standing in front of him, someone Nico did not recognize. This man, or boy, sat down until he was on eyelevel with Nico. What did he want?

Nico watched him anxiously, still waiting for the stranger to pull out a knife to spell words on his skin that would remain there forever. Instead, he put his hands up in a non-threatening gesture.

“I’m not gonna hurt you. It’s gonna be OK, I already called an ambulance. What’s your name?”

The boy’s voice was soft and low. It was dark, so Nico could not see him properly, and neither did he trust him. He didn’t answer, fear still shaking his body until it was painful. When the boy did not get any answer to his question, he asked another one.

“Would you tell me what happened?”

Nico just continued staring at him, although he did not feel quite as threatened anymore.

“OK, you don’t have to answer. I’m Will by the way”, the boy continued.

He sat down, with just enough distance between them so that Nico did not flinch away or feel threatened.

“The ambulance should be here any minute”. Just as he spoke, the sound of the sirens filled the empty streets around them.

***

Will was on his way home from work at the hospital. How did an 18 year old boy without finished education get a job at a hospital (Will was not even cleaning the corridors, he was actually a doctor)? He was good at it, that’s why.

This evening, he had to walk home because his car had broken down the day before, and was not in the shape of carrying him around. Will rounded a corner to continue down a dark street he did not particularly like walking down at night, but it was the shortest way home.

As he was half way down the street, Will stopped dead in his tracks. He heard faint sobbing coming from the dark space between the buildings to his left. He turned to see who it was, and a painful sight met him.

A boy was lying on the ground in a pool of blood, curled up in foster position and shaking. Blood was trickling down from cuts on his bare back, which was also covered in bruises. His pale but bloody hands were protecting his head, and with this also covering his ears, so he did not hear Will calling an ambulance, and then approaching cautiously.

He gently touched the boy’s arm to let him know he was there. At once, the boy let out a painful scream, and backed away from Will along the ground, not managing to get up on his feet. When his back hit the wall, he immediately curled up again and held his hands out for protection, shaking like never before. His head was turned away, his eyes closed.

“P-please don’t…”

His voice was hoarse and barely hearable, but it was soaked with fear and pain. What had the poor kid done to end up like this? Will wanted to protect him, but he did not know how, as the boy was clearly scared out of his mind at Will’s presence.

He slowly walked over to him, bending his knees to sit down until he was on eyelevel with the other boy. He held up his hands, trying not to seem threatening.

“I’m not gonna hurt you. It’s gonna be OK, I already called an ambulance”, he said. “What’s your name?”

The boy was now looking at him with dark-brown eyes wide with fear. He said nothing. Will tried again, another question this time.

“Would you tell me what happened?”

He would not. He was still looking at him as if Will was going to jump right at his throat. He sat down, keeping a safe distance between him and the kid.

“OK, you don’t have to answer. I’m Will by the way”, he added. “The ambulance should be here any minute”.

Just as he said it, Will heard the sirens and soon saw the car coming around the corner. It stopped in front of them, and Kayla and Peter jumped out. They ran to meet him.

“Will! What happened?”

Will stood up.

“I’m not sure, he won’t tell me. But he’s covered in blood and scared out of his mind”.

Kayla approached him slowly, trying not to scare him.

“Hey, kid. We’re here to take you to the hospital, OK? We’ll need you to come with us in the ambulance”.

He did not answer, but they managed to get him on a stretcher and in to the back of the ambulance.

“You should come too, Will. You’re the one who found him”, Peter said, and Will followed.

He sat down next to the boy as the car started moving. Kayla had given him strong painkillers, which would make him sleep. There was a bright light inside, and he managed to see how the boy actually looked. He had raven-black hair, which was long enough to fit into a small ponytail at the back of his head, but some of it fell down and covered up his forehead and parts of his eyes. He was pale, with an undertone of olive, and incredibly skinny. It was hard to tell when he was lying down, but he did not look particularly tall. His face was angelic, but there were heavy shadows underneath his eyes. Then, Will noticed a pattern in the bleeding cuts on his pale chest. He leaned forward and frowned. It was a word, spelled with the blade of a knife.

 _Freak_.


	2. Chapter 2

Nico woke up to a painful throbbing through his entire body. His head was the worst. Probably because when people beat you, they usually aim for your head.

He groaned, and opened his eyes. He immediately regretted it, as the unexpected blinding light was no good for his throbbing head.

“Hey” a low voice called from his left.

Nico nearly jumped out of his skin, and turned to see a sun-tanned boy with blonde curls, and freckles across his nose. He had sky-blue eyes, and a wide grin spread across his face. Nico recognized him.

“I’m glad you’re awake. How are you feeling?” the boy asked.

Will. His name was Will.

“My head hurts like hell. So does the rest of my body, but otherwise I’m okay, I guess”.

Will laughed at his sarcasm, but he quickly turned serious.

“Yeah, it doesn't look too good. Do you remember what happened?” he asked.

Nico did not even want to think about it. He remembered perfectly well how Adrian and his two friends Dylan and Jared had cornered him on his way home. How Dylan and Jared had held his arms to let Adrian use him as a punching bag until he crumpled to the ground, coughing blood. How they had dragged him up after his hair and slung him at the brick wall. He remembered how they had ripped off his shirt, taken out their knives, and written letters of blood and pain across his chest, Nico screaming and begging them to stop. How he had curled up and covered his head to protect himself from their kicking feet, and their sharp knives. He remembered how they had left him there, to wait for a wanted death who never showed up.

“They cornered me on my way home”, he told Will.

He nodded, and probably guessed the rest. At least he did not push it.

“What’s your name?” he then asked.

“Nico di Angelo”.

Will smiled.

“I’m Will Solace”.

He was quiet for a while before he asked another question.

“Why?”

Nico let out a sarcastic snort. “Because I’m the lonely emo kid with no family or friends, who is dyslectic and has ADHD, and who on top of that happened to be gay”.

Nico saw Will’s eyebrows form a concerned look on his face.

“That’s why they wrote freak on your chest?”

The question was almost a whisper. Nico looked down at the bright red letters crossing the pale skin on his chest. He’d had a feeling that was what they wrote. He nodded.

“Yeah”.

Will was quiet. After a little while, he got up, collecting a note tablet that was hanging on the foot of Nico’s hospital bed.

“Anyway”, he said while checking the note, “I was actually here to tell you that you have a concussion, two broken ribs and blood loss, plus that you have taken a serious beating to just about everywhere else on your body”.

He listed Nico’s injuries, and he was a bit confused. Why was this boy, and not a doctor or nurse or something, telling him this?

“Do you work here?” he asked.

Will shot him a smile as he put the tablet down.

“Yeah, I do. Apparently, I’m talented enough to be hired as a doctor even though I’m 18 and haven’t finished my education. It’s kinda cool actually”.

Will was almost beaming with pride, something Nico found kind of cute. Then he mentally slapped himself. Will must have seen the change in his expression.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing”, Nico mumbled.

Instead of looking at Will, he looked down at himself. Aside from the blood-red words on his chest, there were several other cuts and bruises, the last ones being the size of footprints. Which they were. There were also bandages across his ribs, and when he lifted one of his legs from under the cover, he saw dark bruises trailing down from his hip to his feet. Needles were attached to his hands, with veins leading to different bags of liquid.

Will held something towards him. It was a mirror.

“If you want to see. I should warn you, it’s bad”.

Nico took it, and looked at his own reflection. Oh, God. He did look bad. His left eye had a dark purple area around it from Adrian’s fist. The cut that trailed from his forehead and down to his jaw was sewn together, Nico counted about 15 stitches. The rest of his face was pretty much covered in multi-colored bruises, plus a deep cut on his lower lip.

He turned the mirror away, and groaned while he hid his face behind his hands. He could not show up in school like this. No one would believe him if he said he had just walked on a door or fallen down the stairs.

Nico felt embarrassed when he started crying into his hands, but he could not stop it.

“Hey, don’t cry. It’s gonna be fine”. Will put a warm hand on his shoulder, but Nico shook it off.

“No, it’s not! I can’t show up in school like this, everyone will know what happened. I can’t make excuses anymore”. Nico kept sobbing.

“It’s happened before?” he heard Will ask, his voice low and full of concern.

“Of course it has, just not his bad. I’ve always been able to hide it”.

Will sat down next to him on the bed, but he did not attempt to touch him. He was quiet.

“How long does it take until it’s gone?” Nico asked.

“It’s gonna take a few weeks. We’ll remove the stitches in ten days, but you’ll have a scar, and those bruises will take a while to fade”.

Nico had managed to stop his sobbing, and now he was leaning back and looking at the ceiling.

“How long do I have to stay?”

“Hard to tell. We’ll have to wait and see how fast you recover. I don’t even know if you can walk”.

Nico was quiet. He had no idea himself, as he could not do it last night. He just stared at the ceiling, trying to figure out how he would survive when he got back to school. When Adrian and his gang would see him even weaker than before.

Will adjusted something Nico recognized as morphine, and he drifted off as soon as he closed his eyes.


	3. Chapter 3

Will was worried about Nico.

Not that he did not worry about his other patients, but not this way. He felt protective, and he feared what would happen to the boy when he went back to school. Also, Nico was not doing very well.

His concussion caused him violent vomit-attacks, and he had absolutely no appetite. Will managed to force him to eat something, but he was just getting paler and thinner for each day. He could barely stand, and when he did, he immediately got dizzy, and Will could see he was in pain.

Will had started taking night-shifts in the weekends, and every single night Nico was screaming from his nightmares, despite the morphine in his system. It was painful to watch when Will came running into his room to see him thrust and scream in fear and agony. He would suddenly yank back to reality when Will woke him, panting and sweating, and with pain still lingering in his wide eyes.

It had been ten days since Will found him, and it was time to remove Nico’s stitches.

“Hey. How you feeling?” Will asked as he walked in to Nico’s room.

“Fine, I guess” was the boy’s answer.

“Just relax. It’s been healing nicely, and it won’t hurt to remove the stitches”.

Nico nodded. The golden light from the rising sun shone on the left side of his face, and it made his eyes look like there were little gold nuggets littered across the warm, brown color. When you looked away from the cuts and bruises, Will found Nico’s face the most beautiful he had ever known.

He shook the thought away, sat down on a chair, and gently brushed the black hair out of his face so he could see the scar. Nico was looking at him, but when Will met his gaze, he quickly looked down. He could see him blushing slightly, and Will could not help but smile. It was almost too adorable.

“You should lie down”, he said, and Nico did as he was told.

Will started on the top, removing the stitches one by one. It was a painfully long scar, and Will was curious how exactly he had gotten it.

“Can I ask how you got a wound like this?”

Nico shot him a brief glance.

“Let’s just say Adrian likes to play with knives while holding people down”.

That was a stupid question. Will should have guessed it was something like that. He mentally scolded himself.

“Sorry I asked. It was a stupid question”.

“It’s okay, Will”.

Nico was looking at him again, but Will could see he did not want to talk anymore about it. He removed the last stitch.

“Done! You wanna look?”

He handed him the mirror, and Nico took it. He took a quick glance at himself, and immediately handed it back.

“Fuck”, he whispered.

Will knew what was wrong before he said it.

“I have no fucking idea what I’m gonna do when I get back. It looks even worse than I thought”.

Nico was now sitting in his bed, leaning his arms and forehead on his knees. Will felt useless, as he could not make such a scar vanish in a couple of days. Probably never. He knew the bullies would not take pity in him, if anything they would make Nico’s life even worse when they saw how beat up he looked. Nico was strong, but he did not stand much chance against them.

Before Will could think better of it, he sat down on the bed next to Nico and pulled him in for a hug, his back coming to rest on Will’s chest. It seemed like Nico had grown used to his touch over the past days, and he did not pull away. He relaxed, and put his head under Will’s chin.

“We’ll think of something”, he promised. “You’re not leaving quite yet”.

***

“Are you ready?” Will asked.

Nico nodded and took a breath, before he stood up and put weight on his feet. He was getting stronger, but his muscles were still so beat up that using them send trickles of pain up his legs.

Still, it had been much worse, and Nico took a few steps while holding on to Will.

“You’re doing great, sunshine”.

Will had given him a ridiculous ironic nickname he obviously felt suited Nico well. Nico just glared at him and kept walking. When he got used to it, the pain was not very noticeable, and Nico continued down the corridor without much difficulty. He figured he had to be able to walk by himself soon, so he asked Will to let go of his arm.

“You sure?”

“I have to do this on my own soon. You can’t hold my arm forever, Will”.

Will let go, and Nico took a few trying steps. It was not that bad after all. He smiled back at Will, and realized he could not even remember the last time he actually smiled. Will was just a bit behind him when he was about to turn the corner, and someone came running full speed. The person crashed into Nico.

The impact was so powerful it knocked his breath out, and he felt himself landing on the side where he still had two broken ribs. Nico could have sworn he heard the little snap that meant they had broken all over again.

There was an explosion of pain from his side, but he could neither breathe nor scream. He could only lie there, gasping for breath as the pain just got worse. Will was by his side immediately, and so was the stranger who had ran into him.

“What the hell, Jason! You can’t go running like you were in the Olympics in a hospital!”

Will obviously knew the guy.

“I’m sorry, I was just –”

“Don’t come here make excuses! He already had two broken ribs and could barely walk, and you’ve broken them all over again. If you don’t get out of my sight now, I will kick your sorry ass out of this hospital!”

Will was yelling at him, and acting very different from his usual friendly personality. Jason held his hands in the air, and continued down the corridor, muttering that he was sorry.

Nico was finally able to breathe again when Will turned his attention to him.

“I’m sorry, Nico. I knew I shouldn’t have let go of you yet. God, I’ll find Jason and kick his…”

He trailed off when he saw Nico’s expression. Will’s hands found his ribs to check if they were broken, and Nico had to hold back a scream when he pushed lightly on the spot. The pain was much stronger than the first time they had broken, but maybe it was because he had been full of adrenalin at the time.

When dark spots were dancing before his eyes and he felt himself slipping away, he made no effort of staying awake.

 

He woke to a headache and a side that throbbed worse than ever. When he opened his eyes, he saw Will by his bed, holding his hand while drawing patterns on it and playing with his fingers.

Nico felt a tingling sensation every time Will’s fingers touched a part of his hand. Will had not noticed he was awake, but Nico decided not to let him know yet. He enjoyed the touch of his warm skin, and he did not want him to stop when he saw that Nico was awake. So he just laid still and looked at the boy next to him, while Will continued to play with his hand, now also humming a tune Nico was unfamiliar with.

He saw Will smiling to himself, still looking down at Nico’s hand. This made Nico smile, too, and that action seemed to catch Will’s attention. He looked up at Nico, and an even wider grin spread across his face, but Nico could have sworn he was blushing just a little bit.

“Hey, Sunshine. How long have you been awake?” he asked.

“Couple of minutes”.

Will was about to let go of his hand, but before he could, Nico held on to it and squeezed his fingers. Will looked surprised, but he squeezed back, and did not pull away.

“How’s your side?”

“It’s ok, but it’s worse than last time”.

“Yeah, I guessed. It wasn’t very serious the first time, but that fall would probably have broken them anyway, and since they hadn’t healed enough, the impact broke through even more than had already been broken. If you understood any of that”.

Nico figured he’d caught most of it, so he nodded.

“That means you’ll have to stay a couple of more weeks. But you know the good news?”

Nico looked at him. Were there any good news – maybe except the fact that he got to spend a few more weeks with Will?

“No?”

Will touched a spot on his jaw.

“Your bruises will be gone by that time. You can always hide the scar with your hair, can’t you?”

Will had a point. People would eventually notice the scar too, but it would not look like he had been beaten half to death.

“That’s true, I guess”.

Nico unconsciously touched the spot where Will’s finger had been two seconds before. The skin was tingling with electricity from the touch.

“I brought you dinner”, Will said, and handed him a bowl of something that smelled delicious.

“It’s chili sin carne. That’s like the vegetarian version of chili con carne”.

“Why vegetarian?” Nico asked.

Not that he had anything against it; he just never really ate vegetarian food.

“Well, the hospital is all about health, right? It’s not healthy to eat too much meat, so we have vegetarian once in a while”.

Nico shrugged. He had not had a real appetite for a long time, and still did not, but he managed to push down some of it. He was full when he was half way through it, despite the fact that he had not eaten anything since breakfast. That had not been much, either.

He was about to put the bowl away, but Will stopped him.

“Nuh-uh. You’re eating all of it. That’s doctor’s orders” he said firmly.

“But I’m not hungry”.

“Doesn’t matter, cuz you need it. Especially since we’re gonna have to heal those ribs all over again”.

Nico put on a scowl, but Will did not back away.

“Do you want to be fed hospital-style, meaning directly to your stomach, or do you want to eat it yourself? Cuz if you don’t start swallowing down some more food, we have no choice. We can’t have people starving to death in our hospital”.

Nico was not eager to be fed ‘hospital style’, and since he had no other choice, he forced down the rest of the chili.

“Happy now?” he asked when he was done.

Will smiled like he did not catch the irritated look on Nico’s face.

“Very happy. Thank you”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> is solangelo cute?  
> solangelo is adorable.


	4. Chapter 4

It was Friday, and Will was at school, so Nico was alone in his hospital room most of the day – the other nurses and doctors tended to avoid him, as usual. As if that was not bad enough, he was having anxiety-attacks again.

He had those sometimes, and he had no idea what triggered them, but one day his mind seemed like it did not want to cooperate or function at all like usual. All the pain, worry, confusion, humiliation and grief that had been in his life would all come back at him at once, and there was nothing he could do about it. On a very bad day, he would shut completely down, curl up and shiver in his own dark thoughts. This day was one of the bad ones.

He was both shivering and sweating at once, and he could not keep focus on anything. He jumped every time a nurse came in through the door, and he could not force himself to eat anything at all. He was close to go and curl up the corner of the room and sob like a baby, but he didn’t want anyone to see him like that, so he kept it together.

Will would be back by six, and Nico kept asking for him, hoping he would show up early. Nico had never had one of his anxiety attacks in front of him, but he was quite sure that just the presence of the boy would calm him down. He felt safer around him than he did around anyone else, even though he had just known him for a couple of weeks.

The clock showed almost six now, and Nico sat with his head in his arms and his elbows supported on his knees, dark thoughts churning around in his head. He was not able to stop them, no matter how hard he tried not to think about it. He was fanatically twisting his skull-ring, almost as if it was a matter of life and death. It felt like it was.

Suddenly, Nico heard voices outside his door. He was just able to make out what they were saying.

“Thank God, finally! He’s been asking for you all day!” One of the nurses were speaking.

“What? He doesn’t usually do that, does he?”

Will.

“No, but he’s having anxiety attacks. It’s quite bad, I think. You should go in, he’s waiting” the nurse said, and Nico heard her continue down the corridor just as Will opened the door to his room.

Judging by Will’s expression when he saw him, Nico must have looked bad.

“Hey, Nico. What’s wrong?” he asked as he sat down next to the bed.

“Anxiety. It’s one of the bad days”.

Nico could hear how his voice was shivering like his body was. Will took his trembling hand, and he felt himself relaxing just a little bit.

“What’s it about?” Will asked. Nico shook his head before he answered.

“It’s everything, I guess… it’s like my life just comes around and hits me in the face. It likes to do that sometimes”.

Will nodded.

“How often does it happen?”

“I don’t know. It’s not regular and I don’t know what triggers it. It’s like one random day my mind decides to shut down to leave an empty hole for all those thoughts I don’t want to have to churn around in”.

Nico did not know how else to explain it.

“It’s gonna be ok, sunshine. Anything you need?”

Nico shook his head.

“No, I just… I just need someone to keep me company”.

He looked at Will, who was now smiling.

“Then that’s what I’ll do”.

Will had other patients to treat, so he could not stay with Nico all the time, but whenever he did not have to do something, Will came to keep him company. Nico appreciated this more than anything. The problem was that he was still anxious when Will was not there. He doubted he would be able to sleep at all, and if he did, he knew there would be nightmares. They were always worse when he had anxiety.

Just the thought of it was enough to cause him to start trembling again. He rested his forehead on his knees and tried to shut the thoughts out, but it was impossible. It was like they became even louder, until the thoughts were screaming at him inside his head. It was a deafening and terrible sound.

Nico hated it and wanted it to go away, but it would not. It just grew even louder. He put his hands over his ears, but it had about the same effect as a plastic bag against cold. It was unbearable.

Soon, a comfortable heat wrapped around his body, and he wondered what this could have to do with the terrible screams inside his head. Then he realized it was Will, and that the screams no longer just came from inside his head, but also through his mouth. The sound grew fainter, until it was quiet inside his mind.

The only sound Nico heard was himself quietly sobbing against Will’s shirt.

“Can you stay?” he whispered.

“Of course I can, Sunshine”.

***

Will was on his way back to Nico after attending to his other patients, when screams suddenly filled the empty corridor. He ran towards the sound, and he already knew where it was coming from before he came to a stop outside Nico’s door.

He threw it open to see the boy sitting on his bed and covering his ears, screaming at the top of his lungs. Will had no idea why he was screaming, but the sound was penetrating. It send shivers down Will’s spine, and he needed Nico to stop because it was downright painful to hear.

There was no reaction as Will pulled him against his chest, trying to calm him down. It was like he was lost in his own mind.

Will did not let go, and eventually, Nico calmed down and stopped screaming. The boy was soon sobbing against his chest. He let him, and they sat there for a while before Nico whispered something.

“Can you stay?”

Will did not plan to go anywhere.

“Of course I can, Sunshine”.

After Nico had fallen asleep, he put him down on the bed again and placed himself on his usual chair. No one had needed him during the night, and Will had stayed with Nico all the time, not daring to leave his side in case he would start screaming again.

He had dosed off a couple of hours, but the boy had slept peacefully, and Will was wide awake – as usual – before the clock had reached seven. He had only left for five minutes to get some breakfast, and was currently watching the sleeping Nico. The hard expression and worry Will usually saw in his angelic face was gone when he slept, making him even more beautiful.

He found himself reaching out for the boy’s hand, but he hesitated. Will had to be honest with himself; he really liked the kid, but considering the fact that he was Will’s patient, a relationship developing in that direction was highly inappropriate. Will was quite sure it was illegal.

You can wait one more week. Then he’ll probably be out of here.

The problem was that Will worried Nico did not want anything to do with him after he returned to school. That he was just the doctor who was friendly towards him, but whom he would never have any contact with outside the hospital. He tried to convince himself that Nico really was his friend, and that they maybe could be more, but he was not sure what he really believed.

Nico’s eyes were fluttering, and he took a deep breath and stretched his arms above his head, before opening them.

“Morning”, he said in his hoarse morning voice. It was kind of hot, but Will shoved the thought aside.

“Morning to you too. You sleep well?” he asked.

Nico yawned, and turned on his side to face him.

“Yeah, I actually did. No nightmares”.

Will had to smile.

“No anxiety today?” Nico shook his head.

“It never lasts more than a day”, he said, still with his low voice.

“Brought you breakfast”, Will said, and handed him a sandwich.

“Thanks”.

“I have to leave for my round”.

He stood up, but turned when he got to the door.

“That sandwich better be gone when I come back”. Nico rolled his eyes at him, but started eating.

Satisfied, Will closed the door behind him.


	5. Chapter 5

Nico was facing the door leading out of the hospital. As he stood there, Will came up by his side.

“I’ve checked you out of here and everything’s fine”, he said. “Should we go?”

Will had offered to drive him home, and as there were no one to pick him up, Nico had accepted. He nodded and opened the door, even though he had mixed feelings about leaving the safety of the hospital, and the warmth from Will’s presence. He really hoped they would be in contact after he left, as he was Nico’s best – not to mention only – friend.

Besides, he was really hoping they could be more than just friends someday. Will led him to his car, and Nico got in on the passenger’s side. He was quiet until Will asked him what he was thinking about. Nico sighed.

“School. I still don’t know what Adrian and his lousy friends will do after I’ve been away for – I don’t even know how many weeks”.

He looked over at Will, whose eyebrows were pulled together in concentration as he was thinking.

“Yeah… but today’s Friday, right? We’ll figure something out over the weekend”.

Did that mean they would still see each other? A spark of hope lit in Nico’s chest, and he suddenly felt happier than he had in a long time. He could not help but smile.

“Yeah, guess we will”.

After a ten minutes-drive, Will stopped the car in front of Nico’s apartment and they both got out.

“You live here alone?” he asked.

“Yeah. I don’t have anyone else to live with, do I?”

It came out a little more harsh than Nico had meant, and Will flinched.

“Sorry. Yeah, I inherited a lot of money from my mom, so as soon as I could get out of the foster-homes, I did”.

Will just nodded, and he walked with Nico up the steps to the front door. There, Nico stopped, not sure what to do. He looked at Will, who was staring at him with an expression Nico could not read.

“Wha-”

Before Nico could finish the sentence, Will cupped his face and pulled him in for a kiss. It took Nico a few seconds to recover from the shock, but when he did, he pressed himself tighter against Will and kissed back. It was like lava was floating through his entire body, and the heat was the best thing Nico had ever felt. His hands found the back of Will’s neck and entangled themselves in his hair, while the other boy pressed a hand against his back to pull him closer.

When Will broke the kiss, they were both panting. Nico felt a smile spread across his face. He looked into Will’s blue eyes, which were almost sparkling.

“I’ve wanted to do that for weeks, you know”, Will said.

“Me too”. Will leaned in and whispered in Nico’s ear;

“I’m kinda glad you’re not my patient anymore”.

Nico was grinning even wider. When he stood there with Will, knowing he had someone he could actually rely on, he felt stronger than he had ever felt before. He felt like there was nothing that was so much of a problem that he could not anything about it. He felt brave, and strong, and happy.

“You wanna come inside? We can order take-away, cuz I don’t think there’s anything eatable in the kitchen anymore”, he said.

Will found his hand and laced their fingers together.

“Sounds good”.

Nico unlocked the door and they both stepped inside, hand in hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry, so short last chapter.  
> but did you like it? :3


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